Professor Juliet Pulliam, director at South African DST-NRF Centre of Excellence in Epidemiological Modelling and Analysis (SACEMA) at Stellenbosch University, warned the virus is more easily spread from people with respiratory symptoms.

She said: “Nipah virus can be transmitted from person to person, but this transmission is not very efficient.

“When transmission does occur, it is usually to close contacts who have been exposed to the bodily fluids of a person who is sick.

Animal Husbandry department and Forest officials inspect a well to to catch bats at Changaroth (Image: Getty )

"People with Nipah virus are more likely to transmit the virus if they have respiratory symptoms, such as difficulty breathing.”

Nipah Virus is named after the village of Kampung Sungai Nipah, in Malaysia, after pig farmers first contracted the disease during an outbreak in 1998 and 1999.

Almost 300 people ended up being infected and more than 100 died.

Bats take rest on trees in Guwahati on May 23, 2018. (Image: Getty)

Around one million pigs were also euthanised to prevent the spread of the illness.

There has since been outbreaks of the virus in Indian and Bangladesh, with more than 600 reported cases between 1998 and 2015.

Many parts of Asia as well as Australia, Madagasca and Ghana are at risk of outbreaks of the virus.